Poultry scalding machine



Sept. 29, 1959 R. S. ZEBARTH POULTRY SCALDING MACHINE Original FiledApril 11, 1955 MM W Q Q m E a Q N H M ww 1 -N--A----i-i Ii m? M QMUnited States Patent F POULTRY SCA LDING MACHINE Ralph S. Zebarth,Hickman Mills, Mo., ass'ignor, byn'iesne assignments, to Gordon JohnsonCompany, Kansas City, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Originalapplication April 11, 1055, Serial No. 500,490, now Patent No.2,851,723, dated September 16, 1958. Divided and this application March25, 1951, Serial No.648,066

4 Claims. (Cl. 17- 113) I This invention relates to equipment utilizedin the dressing of poultry, and specifically to an improved scalde'rthrough which the poultry 'is advanced in 'a continuous operation, theprimary object being to provide structure for scalding the poultrythrough use of a relatively "large amount of water flowing over thepoultry as it is conveyed, the said structure having an arrangement ofparts especially design'edto more eifective'l-y scald the neck of thebird than has been made possible through use of conventional scalders. II

Among the many structures heretofore utilized in "the scalding ofpoultry, one of the most satisfactory is that which utilizes streams ofscalding liquid that are .permitted to fall upon the birds as the sameare "advanced through a scalding tank. The force of such liquid beingexceedingly great, the feathers of the poultry are subjected to a ratherviolent scalding action, simplifying the subsequent removal thereof byconventional feather picking machines or by other means. However, suchstructures do not properly scald the neck, in part because it isprotected fro m the action or the falling liquid by the body of thebird. And, so far as I am aware, no other machine has heretofore beenprovided which-will solve the problem in' a single scalding step withoutdamaging the skin of the bird. I I

It is accordingly the most important object of the instant invention toprovide a scalder having an inclined ramp along which the poultry slidesas it approaches one end of the tank and is dragged therefrom throughuse of an overhead conveyor or the like, the ramp having a portion whichreceives the poultry necks thereby causing the same to be scald'ed byvirtue of the force of the scalding liquid flowing from the scaldingtank.

Another important object of this invention is 'toprovide a scalder 'ofthe aforementioned character, made in a manner to provide passage meansfor free flow of "the liquid to an outlet opening, the necks of thebirds "extending into the liquid flowing to the outlet opening so as tosubject the neck feathers to a proper 'scald. I

Other objects include the way 'in which the said inclined ramp isprovided with a panel and a number of spaced, upwardly arched members atIowennos't end of the panel for receiving the neck of the bird andsubjecting the same to the 'force of "a 'swiftly rn'o'vin'g scaldingliquid in an underlying "suni'p while holding the body of the bird outof the sump; the way in which the ramp is supported by a plurality ofspaced 'feet resting on the bottom of the tank; the manner ofpositioning the ramp as acontinua'tion of an inclined bottom of an-opentop outlet trough forming a part of the tank; and the way which theentire neck-scalding adaptor is rendered readily removable from thetank.

This is -a division of my cop'ending application Serial No. 500,490,'filed April 11, 1955, now Patent No. 2,851,723, granted September 16,1958.

In the drawing: I

Figure '1 an end elevational view of a scalding mei aienieei Se t. 29,1959.

chine for poultry made pursuant to the present invention, parts beingbrokenaway for clea'rness. I

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, side elevational view, parts being broken awayto reveal details of construction.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view takenon line I'I I- II-Iof Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken on line IVIV of Fig.2. II I I The machine illustrated in the drawing includes an. open topscalding tank broadly designated by the numeral 10, having a pair ofspaced end'walls 12 and 14, together with a pair of side walls 16 and 18between the walls 12 and 14 as best seen in Fig. 3. I I

Tank 10 is provided'with a bottom. '20, preferably shaped as best seenin4, to present a longitudinal. channel 22 aligned with a liquid outletopening 24 within the end wall 14. I I I I I Delivery structure forscalding liquid, provided along the uppermost open end of the tank 10,includes a of longitudinally extending,,tubular elements, one of whichis shown in Figs. 1 and Zofthe drawing and desig nated by the numeral26. Side walls 16 and 18 have longitudinally extending "slots 28communicating with the. tubular elements 26 and through which thescalding liquid 30 flows in heavy streams 31 when the machine is placedin operation. I I I I Poultry 32 is advanced through the tank 10 fromthe end wall I2 to the end wall 14 through the medium of anoverheadconve'yor (not shown) supporting suitable shackles 34 for thebirds 32 and mounted on the lowermost end of flexible supports such aschains 36. An open top trough 38 'at the uppermost end of the wall 12exteriorly of the tank 10, has an inclined bottom (not shown) thatslopes upwardly as the wall 12 is approached and along which the birds32 slide as they approach the tank 10. I

The wall '14 is provided with a similar exterior open top trough 40having an inclined bottom 42 that slopes downwardly as the wall 14 isapproached and along which the birds 32 slide as they move out of thetank 10.

It can now be appreciated that the poultry 32 is advanced through thetank 10 centrally thereof and along its longitudinal axis within thescalding liquid 30 having a maintained level substantially at 33. Whilethe force of such large volume'of water being poured upon the birds 32effectively scalds the legs, wings and body of the bird, the neckfeathers are normally more difficult to remove and should be subjectedto a still more 'eife'ctive scalding action. Furthermore, as can be seenin Fig. 2 .of the drawing,the neck is more or less protected by the bodyof the bird from the action of the liquid gravitating with great forcetoward the channel 22.

Accordingly, pursuant to the principles of the present invention,thereis provided an adaptor broadly designated by the numeral 44 in thenature of an inclined ramp 46 within the tank 10 and sloping upwardlyfrom the bottom 20 thereofto the end wall 14. The ramp 46 includes aflat panel 48 that spans the distance between the side walls 16 and '18as shown in Fig. 3, and which terminates at its uppermost end adjacentthe lower end of the inclined bottom 42.

Releasable means is provided to support the upper end of the panel 48taking the form of down-turned hook 50 on the "panel and a'cornplemental up-turned hook 52 on theinner face of wa1l14. A'handle'54 on the panel '48 facilitates removal of'the adaptor 44 as aunit from within the tank 10. I

In additionto 'the panel "48, the ramp 46 includes a plurality ofelongated members 56 that are arched upwardly as seen in Fig. 2, toguide the poultry 32 onto the panel 48, the members '56 beingspaced-apart as "seen in Figs. 3 and 4 for free flow of the liquid 30along the channel 22 to the outlet opening 24. The upper ends of themembers 56 are attached directly to a downturned flange 58 at thelowermost end of the panel 48 in any suitable manner such as by welding.The lowermost ends of the members 56 rest directly on the bottom 20.

The lower end of the panel 48 and the upper ends of the members 56, areadditionally supported by the bottom 20 through thevmedium of aplurality of feet 60 depending from the panel 48 and likewise attacheddirectly to the flange 58 by welding or otherwise. It is seen in Figs.1' and 4 of the drawing that the feet 60 are similarly spaced apart,whereby the same offer little resistance to flow of the liquid 30 alongthe channel 22 of bottom 20.

It is now clear that, as the poultry 32 is advanced by the conveyor, itmoves upwardly along the inclined bottom of trough 38 and then dropsinto the tank within the scalding liquid 30. As the bird 32 approachesthe adaptor 44 and into engagement with the spacedapart members 56, itis gradually and progressively raised and guided onto the inclined panel48. The conveyor drags or slides the birds 32 along the adaptor 44 andthence onto the inclined bottom 42 of the trough 40.

Since adaptor 44 extends at an angle from the bottom 20 to the end wall14 above the outlet opening 24, the birds slide easily up the ramp 46and the inclined bottom 42 without being damaged. All liquid and foreignmatter flows freely to the outlet 24 through the members 56 and the feet60. Such liquid may be recirculated to the tubular elements 26 or thelatter supplied with scalding liquid in any other suitable manner (notherein shown).

Use of the apparatus contemplates primarily subjecting the neckfeathers, which are ordinarily most difficult to remove, to the greatforce of a swiftly moving stream or current of scalding liquid whilemaintaining the body of the bird out of the sump or channel 22 withinwhich such current is flowing toward outlet 24, all as illustrated inFig. 2.

While the scalding liquid flowing in the channel 22 may emanate from anysuitable source, it is advantageous to obtain such supply of scaldingliquid from an overlying scald, thereby combining the neck-scaldingoperation with the scalding of the remainder of the bird 32.

Therefore, the neck is scalded separately from the body butsimultaneously with the scalding of the body by virtue of the relativelyheavy streams or spray of scalding liquid emanating from the vats 26 orany other suitable source. By collecting the scalding liquid that ispoured over the body of the bird within the sump 22 and permitting suchcollected liquid to flow in a heavy swift stream, longitudinally of thesump 22 through the outlet 24, the supply of scalding liquid for thenecks need not be obtained from a separate source.

It is to be noted also, that the birds 32 are advanced by movement ofthe overhead conveyor and, therefore, the shackles 34 from which thebirds'32 are suspended, in the same direction as the direction of flowof the liquid in sump 22, but the speed of advancement of the birds 32should be less than the rate of flow of the liquid along the sump 22 sothat the neck of the bird 32 will tend to be pulled toward the outlet 24as shown in Fig. 2. This is accomplished further by the provision of thespaced-apart, arched members 56 through which the neck is permitted toextend and which arched members operate to hold the body of the bird outof the sump 22.

As the bird 32 is advanced, the neck may even be pulled between thespaced-apart feet 60 and into underlying relationship to the panel 48.However, the necks of the birds 32 should not be permitted to be pulledthrough the outlet 24 and thereby become damaged. Therefore, the necksare pulled out of the sump 22 as the bodies of the birds slide onto thepanel 48. The

bodies of the birds continue to be subjected to the heavily gravitatingliquid even after the necks have been pulled out of the sump 22 and asthe necks slide up the panel 48 they are still further subjected to thescalding liquid emanating from the outlets 28.

Noteworthy also is the fact that, by virtue of the force of the currentin sump 22, the feathers of the neck which normally lie flatly againstthe neck and extend toward the body of the bird, are pulled upwardlytoward the head of the bird, thereby subjecting the same to a ratherviolent scalding action without damaging the skin of the neck.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A poultry scalding machine comprising a tank having means for pouringa scalding liquid thereinto and through which poultry to be scalded maybe advanced with the necks of the poultry disposed adjacent the bottomof the tank, there being an outlet in the tank at said bottom thereof;structure in the tank for preventing the liquid collecting in the tankat said bottom from pulling the neoks into said outlet as the liquidflows through said outlet; and means in the tank for holding the bodiesof the poultry out of the liquid at the bottom of the tank, saidstructure including a ramp extending upwardly at an angle from saidbottom, said last-mentioned means comprising a number of spaced elementsforming the lower end of the ramp and adapted to receive said neckstherebetween.

2. A poultry scalding machine comprising an elongated, open top tankthrough which poultry, suspended therein, may be advanced longitudinallyof the tank from one end of the latter to the opposite end thereof withthe necks of the poultry disposed adjacent the bottom of the tank; meansabove said bottom for pouring a scalding liquid into the tank upon thepoultry as the latter is advanced, there being an outlet opening in thetank adjacent said bottom for flow of said liquid from the tank wherebyto produce an undercurrent flowing toward the outlet openingand withinwhich said necks are disposed as the poultry is advanced, said outletopening being within said opposite end of said tank whereby saidundercurrent flows longitudinally of the tank in the direction of travelof the poultry; and inclined structure extending upwardly from saidbottom at an angle toward said opposite end of the tank above the outletopening for preventing said undercurrent from carrying said necks intothe outlet opening, the lowermost end of said structure being providedwith means for clearing said necks for disposition within theundercurrent.

3. A poultry scalding machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein saidbottom is provided with a longitudinal channel registering with theoutlet opening for confining said undercurrent to a relatively narrowstream.

4. A poultry scalding machine comprising an elongated, open top tankthrough which poultry, suspended therein, may be advanced longitudinallyof the tank from one end of the latter to the opposite end thereof with'the necks of the poultry disposed adjacent the bottom of the tank;means above said bottom for pouring a scalding liquid into the tank uponthe poultry as the latter is advanced, there being an outlet opening inthe tank adjacent said bottom for flow of said liquid from the tankwhereby to produce an undercurrent flowing toward the outlet opening andwithin which said necks are disposed as the poultry is advanced, saidoutlet opening being within said opposite end of said tank whereby saidundercurrent flows longitudinally of the tank in the direction of travelof the poultry; and inclined structure extending upwardly from saidbottom at an angle toward said opposite end of the tank above the outletopening for preventing said undercurrent from carrying said nec'ks intothe outlet opening, the lowermost end of said structure being providedwith means for clearing said necks for disposition within theundercurrent while supporting the 5 bodies of the poultry as the latteris advanced along said 1,770,565 lowermost end of the structure.1,992,891 2,649,615 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 5 112 931 1,672,555 Barker et a1. June 5, 1928 6 AndersonJuly 15, 1930 Schmidt Feb. 26, 1935 Sharp Aug. 25, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTSAustralia Apr. 16, 1941

